The present invention is directed to novel sugar-based polymers and novel methods of making these sugar-based polymers. In copending application Ser. No. 521,076, incorporated herein by reference, Applicants disclose a method of manufacturing sugar-based polymers using biological catalysts (enzymes). Enzymes are very regioselective, thereby allowing the synthesis of acylated sugars useful in the synthesis of sugar-based polymers of the present invention. Applicants' copending application discloses, inter alia, methods of regioselectively diacylating sugar molecules with an organic acid derivative having at least two carboxyl functionalities. These diacylated sugars are then polymerized to form a polymer having repeating sugar units in the polymer backbone.
Applicants have discovered that sugar-based polymers can be manufactured by first using enzymatic synthesis in the regioselective step of manufacturing the diacylated sugar intermediates useful in the manufacture of sugar-based polymers. Subsequently, chemical methods can be used to polymerize the diacylated sugar intermediates. The use of both enzymatic and chemical synthesis is known as chemoenzymatic synthesis. The use of chemoenzymatic methods of making sugar-based polymers permits one to take advantage of the regioselectively associated with enzymatic synthesis while simultaneously taking advantage of the speed associated with chemical synthesis.